柱 (zhù) · pillar, column, post

Meanings

1 pillar
2 column
3 post

Characters

柱

zhù

pillar; column

Examples

HSK 5

大厅里有四根红色的柱子。

Dàtīng lǐ yǒu sì gēn hóngsè de zhùzi.

There are four red pillars in the hall.

HSK 6

旅游业是这个城市的经济支柱。

Lǚyóuyè shì zhège chéngshì de jīngjì zhīzhù.

Tourism is the economic mainstay of this city.

Tips

memory

木 (wood) + 主 (main) - the main wooden support

Components

radical

木 mù

tree; wood

Tree radical on the left - pictograph of a tree, the indexing component. Marks 柱 as a wooden object - specifically a column or pillar, the kind of squared timber a builder would hew from a trunk. Same radical heads 桥 bridge, 桩 stake, 梁 beam - every load-bearing wooden member in classical architecture.

phonetic

主 zhǔ

host; master (here phonetic)

Right 主 supplies the sound - zhǔ to zhù, only a tone change. 主 depicts a lamp flame above a stand, the 'host of the household.' Faint semantic bonus: a 柱 column is the master member of a building, holding everything up. Same phonetic anchors 注 pour, 住 live, 驻 station.